Céline, the youngest of her parents’ 14 children, was born on 30 March 1968 in Charlemagne, Québec. She began singing at an early age, performing at her brother’s wedding when she was just 5 years old. Young Céline was obviously not a shy child, for she would often sing in front of guests staying in the inn owned by her parents. Céline went on to divide her time between her school studies and lessons at the "Académie d’Art lyrique et dramatique", where she was trained in singing and acting. Her mother, a firm believer in her daughter’s talent, encouraged Céline to pursue a singing career.

Indeed, she even wrote the lyrics to her first song. Céline and her brother Jacques composed the music and Céline, aged just 12, recorded "Ce n’était qu’un rêve" in the family’s kitchen. The following day the demo tape of the song landed on producer René Angelil’s desk. Impressed by the young girl's voice, Angelil immediately took out a mortgage on his house to produce Céline Dion's début album "La Voix du Bon Dieu". Angelil's instinct certainly proved right - Céline Dion's album would go gold a year after its release.

Céline recorded a second single, "D’amour ou d’amitié" in 1982. The song was written by Eddy Marnay, who had been specially brought in by René Angelil to help the young singer develop her career in France. "D’amour ou d’amitié" proved to be another instant hit, gaining recognition for the teenage singer throughout the French-speaking world. After scooping a string of awards - including a Gold Disc in Québec, Best Song at the "World Popular Song Festival" in Tokyo in 1982, and Newcomer of the Year at the 1983 edition of Midem (the annual international record industry fair held in Cannes) - Céline Dion was well on her way to international stardom. In 1983 Céline recorded her début album, Du soleil au coeur", which produced another smash hit single, "Mon ami m’a quitté". In October of that year the teenage star would go on to win four "Félix" awards (at the Québec music awards).

16-year-old Celine sings for the Pope

When Pope Jean-Paul II came to Canada in 1984, it was Céline who was chosen to represent the country’s youth at a special ceremony held in Montreal’s Olympic stadium on 11 September. The young singer held a crowd of 65,000 mesmerised by her performance of "Une Colombe".

1984 also saw the release of a new single "Mon rêve de toujours", which was closely followed by a second album, "Les oiseaux de bonheur". In November of that year Céline was invited to sing at the prestigious "Olympia" music hall in Paris, opening French comedian Patrick Sébastien’s show.

The following year Céline was involved in several collective projects, such as the "Feed the World" album and film soundtrack (proceeds from which were donated to victims of the famine in Ethiopia). In 1985 she also added five new "Félix" awards to her ever-growing collection. The following year Céline recorded a new single entitled "Billy". But immediately after the single’s release the 18-year-old announced that she was going to take some time off, so that she could devote her time and energy to learning English and re-thinking her image.

When she returned to the music scene after this brief interlude, Céline recorded the single "Je ne veux pas", written by the Italian songwriter Romano Musumara. (This was the last recording the singer would make with her original record company Pathé).

Céline Dion's third album "Incognito", released in France in 1988, was written by Luc Plamondon, Eddie Marnay and Daniel Lavoie,. The song "Ne partez pas sans moi" proved enormously successful for young Céline, winning her that year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. (Céline represented Switzerland at the contest). The young singer went on to win another four "Félix" awards, then performed 42 dates at the "Théâtre Saint Denis" in Montreal.

The 90’s ushered in a new era for Céline Dion : the era of international stardom. The singer recorded "Unison", her first album in English, on the CBS label. The first single release, entitled "Where Does My Heart Beat Now?" (an adaptation of one of Céline's French hits), soon rocketed to n°20 in the French Top 50. It was then released in the United States to general acclaim from the public and the critics. The album "Unsion" also proved a phenomenal success, going on to sell 1,7 million copies and Ms. Dion soon found herself a popular fixture on American TV shows.

By 1991 the young singer was already celebrating 10 years in the music business and in June of that year she gave a special gala for her fans at the "Forum de Montréal". Céline Dion’s powerful voice and emotional lyrics had by now attracted a huge following of fans and won her great acclaim among professionals in the music world. Later that year the singer scored another huge hit with the album "Dion chante Plamondon", her new version of the songs from the famous musical "Starmania" (which the Quebec-born songwriter Luc Plamondon had written with French musician Michel Berger). After rocketing to the top of the charts with Plamondon’s hit "Ziggy", Céline Dion was chosen to record the soundtrack to the Walt Disney film "Beauty and the Beast".

In 1992 Ms. Dion recorded a second album in English, entitled simply "Céline Dion". This album featured a very special guest star, in the form of His Royal Funky Highness Prince who appeared on "With This Tear". The single release from the album, "Love Can Move Mountains" proved a great success. By now Céline Dion was becoming something of a household name in America - she was even invited to be the support act for Michael Bolton during his summer tour of the U.S.

In 1992 Céline Dion also played one of the lead roles in "Tycoon", the English version of the hit musical "Starmania".

In spite of her new-found success in the States, Céline Dion continued recording in French, releasing a new single, "Je danse dans ma tête" in May 1992. By now the singer had established a reputation worldwide, her records shooting to the top of the charts in several different countries. Céline Dion would then go on to scoop another series of international awards (including a prize at the 4th World Music Awards in Monte Carlo).

Continuing her international career, Céline recorded a third album in English in November 93. "The Colour of My Love" instantly soared to the top of the American charts, reaching prime spots in several different categories. The first single release, "Nothing’s Broken But My Heart", soon proved to be another hit. Later that same year Céline Dion was presented with a prestigious Billboard Award. She also won a Grammy Award for the soundtrack of "Beauty and the Beast" (a memorable occasion as this was the first time a Canadian singer had ever won a Grammy). The sales of "The Colour of My Love" soon reached record proportions, topping the 10 million mark.

From the very beginning of her career, Céline has remained firmly attached to her (large) family, which includes 27 nephews and nieces. Sadly, she lost one of her young niece, Karine, to the disease cystic fibrosis. Since Karine’s death in 1993, Céline has been more committed than ever to her work for cystic fibrosis sufferers and she continues to give special gala performances to raise funds.

In 1993, shortly after Karine's death, Céline became engaged to René Angelil, the man who had ‘discovered’ her at the tender age of 13.

In September 94 Céline gave three concerts at the prestigious Olympia in Paris. (Needless to say tickets were sold out long in advance !) Céline brought the house down at the Olympia with her performances of Tina Turner covers, songs from "Starmania" and the film soundtrack of "Baghdad Café", and, of course, her own hits. In November a live album of the concert was released, entitled simply "Live à l’Olympia". Céline continued her charity work that year, taking part in the "Enfoirés au Grand Rex" concert (proceeds from which went to the "Restos du Coeur" (the association set up in 1985 by the late French comedian Coluche to provide hot meals for the homeless). At the concert Céline performed "Là-bas" and "La chanson des Restos" as a duet with the French singer/songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman. Céline’s busy touring schedule continued to be as jam-packed as ever, including tours of the U.S., concerts in Japan and a special gala performance with Michael Jackson at the "Jackson Family Honours". Despite her gruelling schedule, Céline somehow found time to fit in her wedding with René Angelil on 17 December 1994.

After their famous duet at the "Restos du Coeur" concert, Céline Dion and Jean-Jacques Goldman began an extremely successful collaboration which resulted in the album "D’eux", released in the spring of 95. Goldman not only wrote all the songs on the album, he was also responsible for all the musical arrangements and even performed a famous rock duet with Céline, entitled "J’irai où tu iras". The first single, "Pour que tu m’aimes encore" soon proved an instant smash hit, rocketing to the top of the charts throughout Europe. Céline Dion’s powerful vocal performance was hailed as a masterpiece, especially on the track "Vole" (a moving ballad dedicated to her dead niece Karine). After receiving massive airplay and a huge amount of media attention, the album went on to sell 4.5 million copies worldwide (including 100,000 in the States, which was a rare feat for an album recorded in French !)

Céline followed this triumph with a series of 15 sold-out dates in the provinces and 6 concerts in Paris (5 at the "Zénith" in October and a huge concert at Bercy Stadium in December). Audiences went wild when Céline Dion appeared on stage, for by now the singer’s popularity had reached phenomenal heights. Indeed, by this stage in her career Céline appeared to have acceded to veritable mega-stardom !

1996 began just as 1995 had ended - a gala performance at Cannes, 2 concerts at Bercy Stadium in January, closely followed by another two concerts in the provinces. Céline also appeared with the rest of the "Enfoirés" at a special 10th anniversary concert for the "Restos du Coeur" held in February. The singer also triumphed at France’s "Victoires de la Musique" awards in 1996 (winning awards for Best Song as well as being crowned Francophone Artist of the Year).

Following on the trail of her success, Céline Dion recorded a new album in English, "Falling Into You", which was released in March of that year. The album, whose title track was an English adaptation of Goldman’s "Pour que tu m’aimes encore", featured covers of a number of English classics such as "All By Myself" and "You Make Me feel Like". The album proved phenomenally successful, selling a staggering 18 million copies worldwide. With the international tour that followed Céline Dion achieved her dream of conquering music fans in just about every nation.

In July 96 Céline Dion was invited to sing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Her spectacular performance of "The Power of Dream" was watched by an audience of 3 billion. On her return to France, the singer embarked upon another tour and released a new live album, entitled "Live à Paris". At the end of 96 Céline returned to her homeland to perform two concerts in Montreal, before setting off on a sell-out tour of Asia and playing a week at New York’s Madison Square Garden (where tickets were exchanging hands on the black market for up to 1,500 dollars!) In April Princess Stephanie of Monaco presented the singer with yet another honour at the "World Music Awards" held in Monte Carlo in April.

Exhausted by her gruelling schedule (the singer had already cancelled a series of concerts in September 96), Céline Dion announced that she was going to take a sabbatical and retired to her West Palm Beach villa in Florida. After a peaceful interlude in Florida Céline returned to the music scene with renewed vigour, going straight into the studio to begin work on a new album entitled "Let's Talk About Love". Released in November 97, this album featured a special duet with Céline's childhood idol Barbra Streisand. (The Dion/Streisand duet "Tell Him" would be chosen as the first single release from the album). "Let's Talk About Love" also included a number of other duets which the Canadian diva recorded with a host of international stars such as the Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, the American singer Carole King and The Bee Gees. (Shortly afterwards the song "My Heart Will Go On" would be chosen as the theme tune for the big-budget American movie "Titanic"). Needless to say, Céline Dion's album went on to become a huge international hit - indeed, sales recently topped the 24 million mark!

Following the phenomenal success of the album "D'eux" (written by Jean-Jacques Goldman), Céline Dion invited the talented French songwriter to collaborate on her new album "S'il suffisait d'aimer". Goldman penned ten new songs (in French) for Céline's new album, released in September of this year. Needless to say, this new album soon proved to be another phenomenal hit - within three weeks of its release, "S'il suffisait d'aimer" had sold a staggering 2 million copies and rocketed to the n°1 spot in the European and Canadian best-seller lists! Riding on the wave of this success, the song "Zora sourit" was released as the first single from the album.

Meanwhile Céline continued her hectic schedule, flying out to the States to perform on an American TV show with Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain, Aretha Franklin and Mariah Carey. A special CD compilation, entitled "Divas Live", was recorded on this occasion. Céline Dion's participation on this album proves that the singer, who flits back and forth between the English-speaking and the French-speaking world with the greatest of ease, has now officially joined the international diva élite.

Much to the disappointment of her millions of fans, Céline announced (in the autumn of '98) that she was planning to take a major career break as of January 1 2000. The mega-diva is apparently worn out by her whirlwind schedule and would like to take a two-year break to devote time and energy to her personal life. Rumour has it that the singer would also like to try for a baby.

In the meantime, Céline's hectic schedule continues apace and she kicks off 1999 with an extensive international tour. The Quebecois diva unveiled her new show back home in Montreal (7-18 December 98), playing to capacity audiences at the gigantic Molson Centre. At the lavish première, attended by most of Céline's family, the singer took part in a live video link-up to the prestigious Billboard award ceremony in Las Vegas - and won no less than six Billboard awards! Sony Music France also presented the singer with a special diamond disc after her new album "S'il suffisait d'aimer" (written by the French songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman) sold over 3 million copies, smashing all previous sales records!

Céline, who will doubtless go down in history as the most successful Francophone diva of all time, performed to an audience of 25,000 fans at her Montreal première. The crowd went wild as the singer launched into her performance on the special heart-shaped stage, and, needless to say, tickets for Ms. Dion's next six nights at the Molson Centre were sold out weeks in advance.

Céline embarked upon an extensive European tour in the summer of '99. However several tour dates had to be cancelled when the singer's husband, René Angelil, fell ill. Before heading off to perform concerts in Switzerland, Germany and the UK, the Quebecois diva brought the house down at the Stade de France in Paris (on 19 and 20 June). 75,000 fans turned out to see Céline at the Stade de France each night and lucky audiences enjoyed an unexpected treat when Céline's French songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman joined her on stage to perform a special duet of "J'irai où tu iras". Needless to say, Céline's mega-show at the Stade de France - which included the singer leaping onto a gigantic ship's prow to perform her theme song from "Titanic" ("My Heart Will Go On") - proved an enormous hit with French fans.

November '99 saw the release of a special Céline Dion compilation, entitled "All The Way - A Decade of Song". The album featured a selection of the diva's greatest hits in English and also included Céline's own version of "Vivre" (a song from the hit musical "Notre Dame de Paris") which she re-recorded as "That's The Way It Is". When Céline performed a (temporary) farewell concert in Montreal on 31 December 1999 she was joined on stage by several members of the "Notre Dame de Paris" troupe - namely Garou, Bruno Pelletier, Luck Mervil and Daniel Lavoie.

Céline marked the end of the millennium in style, receiving a special award from her record company Sony Music for having sold a staggering 100 million albums world-wide. And sales are still booming - Céline's latest album "All The Way" has sold 10 million copies to date!

A few months later Céline's record company made an official announcement, informing fans that the international diva would return to the stage in March 2003 - but only in Las Vegas! In fact, the singer has signed an exclusive three-year contract with the famous Las Vegas hotel Caesar Palace, where they are currently building a special 4,000-seater venue for her.

For the purpose of welcoming the artist and her family during these three years, the Ceasar Palace is also building a lavish mansion. The contract stipulates that the star is to perform five evenings a week—no less than 600 shows in three years. In return, she will receive a Euro 115 Million fee. Franco Dragone, the creator of the Cirque du Soleil, is said to have been selected as stage producer.

Following the September 11th Terror Attack, Celine Dion took part, along with several Hollywood artists, in a special charity broadcast on September 21st, where she sang ‘God Bless America’. She renewed the engagement a week later in Montreal and sang "L’Amour existe encore". On October 28th, Celine Dion and Garou performed together at the Felix Awards Ceremony in Quebec. They chose to sing "Sous le vent"—one of the few titles that the star had recorded during her absence from the musical spotlight.

But the star’s official comeback was only to take place in 2002. In Spring that year, Celine Dion brought out her first album since her child was born a year ago. The release date was set exactly a month after her son’s first birthday. Precisely entitled "A New Day has Come", the album recorded in English is primarily aimed at the American market. Dion promoted it in March and April, appearing on America’s most famous television shows such as the Grammy Awards Ceremony. She was in France for a few days in March to launch her album’s European release. After a very long press conference on the 19^th, she surprised Garou’s audience in Bercy on the 20^th. She joined him on stage, and the two artists performed their leading title "Sous le Vent"—which had scooped up the Victoires de la Musique Prize for Best Original Song a few days before. During that same evening, Celine sang two more songs, including one with De Palmas, another one of her fellow countrymen.

By the early days of April, the Quebec diva’s comeback album had already reached number one position in 17 countries, including the US and France. This international success can be understood by the fact that the record has been carefully thought up to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. The majority of English tracks were aimed at the Anglo-Saxon market, yet the English translations of some of her French hits succeeded not to vex the diva’s French-speaking fans who delighted in "Ten Days" (originally Gerald De Palmas’s "Tomber") and in the new version of Pascal Obispo’s "L’Envie d’aimer", which had originally been written for the French musical "les Dix Commandements". What’s more, Céline Dion was thoughtful not to forget the huge Spanish-speaking market, recording a Spanish version of "L’Amour existe encore".

Las Vegas

All the while, the workaholic Celine had also been getting ready for her Vegas shows, practicing the choreography with some of the 70 performers that are to accompany her on stage. For that purpose, she settled in La Louvière, Belgium, where a three-month rehearsal period has been planned.

On March 25th 2003, Céline released her new English opus, "One Heart", which featured 14 tracks including a cover of Roy Orbison’s "I Drove All Night" as her first single.

On the same day, the opening night of her Las Vegas show opportunely took place. The star was acclaimed by a very exclusive audience consisting of the likes of Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Garou and Luc Plamondon.
The 90-minute show presented most of the star’s hits but also featured covers of Sinatra’s and Peggy Lee’s standards, along with Donizetti’s "Lucia de Lammermoor".

The show is due to run for three years at the Las Vegas Colosseum (a venue with a capacity to hold over 4,000 people) which was specially built for the Quebecoise diva. Céline will perform 20 shows there a month.

While the Canadian diva’s French-speaking fans were still waiting for her French-recorded albums, the singer took a week off from her busy agenda and recorded a dozen songs in Vegas. She only had to set her voice on pre-recorded tunes composed by the likes of Jean- Jacques Goldman, Erick Benzi, Gildas Arzel andJacques Veneruso. The album entitled "Une Fille Et 4 Types" (A Gal and Four Guys) was released in October. "Tout L’Or Du Monde", the first single was in key with the rest of the album—classical and commonplace. Yet it received massive coverage on the airwaves.

Just over a year after her Vegas premiere, in June 2004, Céline Dion released "A New Day... Live in Las Vegas", an album of thirteen songs recorded live at her Vegas show. The album also included two new songs recorded in the studio: "You And I" and "Ain’t Gonna Look The Other Way."

While continuing her Vegas performances, the singer also began work on a project with the renowned photographer Anne Geddes. The pair produced a series of photographs and songs celebrating motherhood and the special bond between mother and child. This resulted in the album "Miracle", released in October 2004. Besides the theme song, the album included a mix of twelve new songs and classics such as "Beautiful Boy" and "What A Wonderful World."

Proving that she was still thinking of her French-speaking fans, Céline Dion went on to release a greatest French hits album, entitled "On ne change pas", in October 2005. This double album featured the best of her back catalogue in French and three previously unreleased bonus tracks ("Je ne vous oublie pas", "Tous les secrets" and "I Believe In You", a duet recorded with the group Il Divo). To mark the occasion of the album release, the singer performed a series of concerts in Paris, setting foot in the French capital for the first time in three years.

In May 2007, Céline Dion returned to the forefront of the music scene with a new album in French, entitled "D'elles." Motivated by a desire to sing songs by women, the singer recruited the services of nine female Francophone authors: Françoise Dorin, Christine Orban, Nina Bouraoui, Marie Laberge, Lise Payette, Denise Bombardier, Nathalie Nechtschein, Jovette-Alice Bernier and Janette Bertrand. The late 19th-century French novelist George Sand also featured on the songwriting credits. The songs on this new album, which had a clear autobiographical element, were set to music by a group of male arrangers (including Jacques Veneruso, David Gategno, Erick Benzi, Gildas Arzel, Marc Dupré and Jean-François Breau), working under the watchful eye of producer Jean-Jacques Goldman.